Advertising is an ancient art
Advertising is an ancient art, but don’t even think of what David Ogilvy is doing as “art.”
He was born on June 23, 1911 in West Horseley, England. He decided to move to the United States, more specifically New York. There he became a copyright legend and created hundreds of effective and powerful headlines that hold their power to this day.
David Ogilvy is the most well-known spokeswoman, and his lessons are as relevant today as they were when he opened the door to agency Ogilvy & Mather in 1948. He understands the essence of the role of marketing and advertising and concludes with a quote:
Advertising is not an art form, but a medium of information, a message for the single purpose of selling.
Ogilvy quote:
When I write an ad, I don’t want you to say that you think it’s “creative”. I want you to find it interesting enough to buy the product.
This quote is from his book “Ogilvy on Advertisement”. By the way, this is excellent and I recommend reading it. If you are interested, you can download the version here.
“Ogilvyon Advertising” was written in 1983 (yes, I know, it sounds almost prehistoric without the internet!) And that everything he introduced to the world of advertising is obsolete. Don’t even think about it for a moment. today. His lessons are timeless in marketing, including new challenges in the age of social media.
The same “Ogilbian” technology that worked in the 70’s can be applied today to current advertising, blog headlines, website marketing, e-commerce, and YouTube channels. For some reason, they say that the idea of a genius is timeless. These seven commandments show that the ideas of the most influential spokespersons in the market are eternal and have good reason. Study Commandments # 1 and start applying them! (If David Ogilvy says, believe me
These seven commandments show that the ideas of the most influential spokespersons in the market are eternal and have good reason. Study Commandments # 1 and start applying them! (If David Ogilvy says that, believe me, it’s worth it!)
David Ogilby’s Commandment # 1:
Your role is to sell and don’t let anything distract you from the sole purpose of advertising.
The purpose of creating an ad is not to prove who is smarter and witty. Nor can we prove who can come up with the best phrases in wordplay. Ogilvy says in his book that he hates when his employees call themselves “creative.”
One of David O’Gilby’s quotes says:
“Your role is to sell. Don’t distract you from the sole purpose of advertising.”
The gist of this commandment and David Ogilvy is very brief. If you want people to buy your product, you need to explain it as concisely and briefly as possible. What to sell and how buying a product can improve their lives. People don’t have much time to stop and read, so if you think you need to surprise them with your own words and creativity, you can, but never sacrifice sales.
People don’t have much time to stop and read, so if you think you need to surprise them with your own words and creativity, you can, but never sacrifice sales.
Example: Advertising agency TBWA-Vancouver has created a clear and creative ad for the British Columbia Lung Association, an association that fights lung cancer. Wordplay is valuable because they really know how to efficiently communicate and “sell” the concept of the campaign.